The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-12-11

He uttered deep sigh; and just as the cabmau.
taking heart of beginning last to scale
the wall, his defauting customer fell again to run
ming, and disappeared into the further fields.
| CHAPTER VIII.
| SINGULAR INSTANCE THE UTILITY OF PASS
KEYS.
Where he ran at first. John never very clearly
knew; nor yet bow long time elapsed he
| found himself III the by-road the lodge of
| Raveiston propped against the wall. his lungs
heaving like bellows, his legs leaden- heavy, his
mind possessed by one sole desite, to lie down
and be unseen. He bered the thick COW
erts around the quarry hole pond, untrodden
corner of the world where he might surely find
conceaiment till the night should fall Thither
he passed down the lane and when he came
there heholdt he had forgotten the frost, and the
pond alive with young people skating, ard
| the pond-side coverts were thick with lockers
on. He looked awhile himself There was
one tall graceful maiden, skating hand IN band
with youth, whom she bestowed her bright
eyes perhaps too patiently; and 1t was strange
with what anger John behed her. he could
have broken forth in curses; he could have stood
there, like mortified tramp. and shaken his fist
and vented his gall upon her by the hour-or SO
he thought: and the next moment his heart oled
for the girl. Poor creature, it's little she
knowsi' he sighed. Let her enjoy herself
while she cant" But 1t possible. when Flora
used to smile at him the Braid ponds, she
could have looked SO fulsome to a sick-heartec
by stander?
The thought OF one quarry, in his frozen wits,
suggested another, and he p!odded off towards
Craig Leth. 4 wind had sprung I'D out OF the
northwest; il cruel keen II dried him ike
fire, and racked his finger joints 1t brought
clouds too: pale. swift. hurrying clouds, that
blotted heaven and shed gloom upon the EARTH
He scrambled up among the hazeied rubbish
hears shat surround the cauldron of the quarry,
and lay fiat upon the stones. The wind searched
close along the earth, the stones were cutting ana
icy the bare hazels walled about him; and soon
the of the afternoon began to be vocal with
those strange and dismal harpings that herald
snow. Pain and misery turned In Johns llrnos
to a narrowing Impotence and blind desire OF
change; now he would roll In his harsh lair, and
when the fints abraded him, was almost pleased;
now he would crawl to the edge of the huge pit
and look dizzily down. He saw the spiral OF
she descending roadway, the steep crags, the
the clingine bushes, the peppering OF snow
wreaths and far down in the bottom, the dimin-
| Ished crane Here. no doubt was way TO emu
il. But it somehow did not take his fancy.
tlG And suddenly he was aware that ne was nun
CRY; ay, even through the fortunes OF the cold,
even through the frosts of despair. gross oes-
perase longing after food, matter what no
matter how, began to wake and spur him. Sup
| pose he pawned his watch! But no. on Christmas
dav-this Christmas day!-the pawn-shop
would be closed. Suppose he went to the pubic
| house close by at Blackhall. and offered the
watch which was wort ten pounds. IN payment
for a meal of bread and cheese! The lncongru-
| ity was remarkable; the good folks would
! either put him the door, only let him IN Go
send for the police He turned mis- pockets out one
after another: some San Francisco tram car
checks, cigar no lights, the pass key to bis
fathers house, pocket handkerchief, with just
| a touch of scent: money could De raised on
of these There was nothing for 1t but to
starve and after all, what mattered 1t! mat
also door of exit.
he crept close among the bushes, the WIND
| PLAYING round him like lash; his clothes seemed
| thin as paper, his joints burned his skin curdled
on his bones. He rad vision of a hlgh.lylng
cattIe-drive in California, and the bed OF dried
| stream with one muddy pool. by which the
| vaqueros had encamped, splendid sun over all,
the big bonfire blazing. the strips of COW brown
| ing and smoking a skewer of wood; how warm
If how the steam of screening meat
And then again he remen bered his manifold
calamities, and burrowed and wallowed IN the
sense of his disgrace and shame. And next he
entering Franks restaurant in Montgomery
street, San Francisco; he had ordered pan stow
and veuison chops, of which he was lmmoder-
auely fond, and as he waiting, Munroe, the
good attendant, brought him a whisky punch;
he saw the straw erries float on the delectaoie
cup, he heard the ice chink about the straws.
And then he awoke again to his detested fate.
and found himself sitting bumped together, IN
a windy combe of quarry refuse-darkness thick
about him, thin flakes of snow flying here and
there like rags of paper, and the strong shudder-
ing of his body clashing his teeth ike nc
cough.
We have seen John in nothing but the storm
lest conditions; we bave seen him reckless. des-
perate tried beyond his moderate powers; of his
daily self, cheerful, regular not lunthriftv. we
havesee nothing; and it may thus be surprise to
the reader to learn that he WAS studiously care
full OF his health. This favorite preoccupation
now awoke. If he were to sit there and die or
cold there would be mighty little gained; better
the police cell and the chances of a jury
trial. than the miserable certainty OF death at
dyke-side before the next winters dawn, or
death little later in the gas-lit wards OF an In
Urinary.
He rose on aching legs, and stumbled here
and there among rubbish heaps. still circum-
vented By the yawning crater of the quarry; or
perhaps he only thought So for the darkness
was already dense, the snow was growing
thicker, and he moved like blind man. and
with a blind 10 ans terrors At last he elm bed
fence, thinking to drop into the road, and found
himself staggering, instead. among the iron fur
rows of a ploughland, endless, it seemed as
whole country And next be was in a wood. beat
ing among young trees and then he was aware of
house with many lighted windows. Christmas
carriages waiting at the doors. and Christmas
drivers flor Christmas has a double edee) be-
coming swiftly hooded with snow. From this
glimpse of human cheerfulness, he fed like
Cain; wandered In the night unplloted careless
of whittier he went; fell, and lay. and then rose
again and wandered farther; and at last. like
transformation scene. behold him IN the lighted
jaws of the CITY, staring at a lamp which had
already donned the tilted nightcap of the snow.
It came thickly now. q Feeding Storm and
while he yet stood blinking at the lamp, his
feet were buried. He remembered something
like it in the past. a street-lamp crowned and
caked upon the windward side with snow. the
wind uttering its mournful boot, himself LOOKING
on, even as now; but the cold had struck TOO
sharply on his wits, and memory failed him as
to the date and sequel of the "Reminiscences
Rridca. bnt whether he was John Nicholson. of
a bank in California street or some former John,
clerk in his fathers office, ne had now clean
forgotten. Another blank, and he was thrusting
his pass-key into the door-lock of his fathers
house.
Hours must have passed Whether crouched
Oh the cold stones or wandering in the fields
among the snow, more than he could tell:
but hours had passed. The finger of the hall
CLOCK was close twelve; narrow peep of gas
in the ball lamp shed shadows; and the door of
the back room-his fathers room-was open
and emitted a warm light. At so late an hour,
all this strange; the lights should have been
out the doors locked. the good folk safe in bed
He marveled at the irregularlty, leaning the
hall table; and marveled to find himself there;
and thawed and grew more hungry, In the
warmer air of the house
The clock uttered its premonitary catch. in
five minute Christmas day would be among the
DAYS of the past hrisrmast-what Christmas
" ell, there was Il use waiting; he had come
to that house. he scarcely knew how; If they
were TO thrust him forth again, II had best be
done at once; and he moved TO the door of the
back room and entered.